I was finally able to fit SXSW into my travel schedule and was not disappointed. I love Austin in general and SXSW was an incredible ten days of networking, inspiration, and great food.
SXSW was kind enough to invite me to be on the startup jury for the SXSW Pitch in the blockchain track. This was one of my most memorable and enjoyable startup juries, not least because whurley was also on the jury with me and I don’t think I stopped laughing from speaker prep through to the end.
We had the pleasure of hearing pitches from Bext360, Eggschain, Knowbella Tech, Nebula Genomics, Steamchain, Bioverse, Lucidity, and NuID. Congratulations to all the startups for making it through the selection process to be on stage at SXSW Pitch 2019. I was especially impressed by Steamchain, both as a business and technology model as well as for an excellent pitch.
Update: I’ll be back for SXSW Pitch 2020. See you in Austin!
I was also able to switch hats to my role as an ambassador of the FrenchTech ecosystem and opportunity that France represents for scaling up technology businesses. Specifically, I filled in for FrenchTech Director Kat Borlongan in presenting the new FrenchTech startup employee visa. I’ll leave the details of that for another article, but France basically studied every employee visa possible in order to create a brilliant offering: fast tracked, low fees, the ability to change employers once in France, no specific educational degree requirements, etc…
It is always a pleasure to get to share why I believe that France is the best European startup ecosystem and the clear, easy choice for companies looking to scale up through Europe, whether they are from the US, Canada or Southeast Asia; even better to be able to present that in one of the US’s best tech ecosystems, Austin.
🏆 I love serving on startup juries, and consider it a privilege and a tremendous responsibility. Want to invite me to participate in your event? Feel free to reach out.
Director at The CryptoAssets Institute, evangelizing the blockchain economy across Europe and Southeast Asia, advising government administrations, corporations, and funds on tokenization. Founder of Borderless Ventures focused on FrenchTech, CEE, and ASEAN startups. Former Managing Partner, Nest Venture Capital.
Ethan is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and advisor on the Blockchain Economy and CryptoAssets, particularly Tokenized Securities. He’s also passionate about entrepreneurship, European and Southeast Asian innovation ecosystems and startup scale, as well as corporate-startup innovation. He is a frequent media interviewee and available for TV, radio/podcast, print, and video.
Invite Ethan to speak at your conference or to inspire your employees and executives at your next corporate event.
